Director Steve McQueen’s new thriller WIDOWS is a Chicago-set heist film that puts to good use the city’s notorious corruption, which puts it in the company of Michael Mann’s stylish 1981 feature debut THIEF. In this half of our Windy City-centric pairing, we dig into THIEF and its strangely compelling criminal protagonist Frank, played by James Caan, to see what the film says about the kind of city Chicago was (and is), and the kind of filmmaker Mann would become. Plus, still more feedback on Bradley Cooper's version of A STAR IS BORN.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THIEF, WIDOWS, or both by sending an email to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro Music: Tangerine Dream, “Final Confrontation”

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